Steelers match Patriots' offer for Emmanuel Sanders

Emmanuel Sanders is sticking with the Pittsburgh Steelers -- but for how long?

The New England Patriots weren't the only ones to offer Sanders a contract in free agency, and the Steelers might not be able to keep the wide receiver beyond the 2013 season.

"We had several teams make offers in free agency so we know there are teams who really like Emmanuel," his agent, Jordan Woy, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The Steelers matched New England's one-year, $2.5 million offer to the restricted free agent on Sunday. Pittsburgh would have received a third-round pick from the Patriots in exchange for letting Sanders go.

Unless the Steelers can sign Sanders to a long-term contract, he will be an unrestricted free agent next March, free to sign anywhere with no compensation to Pittsburgh. That's the exact same situation that played out with receiver Mike Wallace, who was signed by Miami last month.

Woy told the Post-Gazette that he and Sanders are open to discussions about a multi-year contract, but he added, "We are also open to him playing the year out. It would have to be a very good deal for us to sign a multi-year agreement."

The 26-year-old Sanders caught 44 passes for 626 yards and a touchdown in 2012, and he was the only wide receiver to appear in all 16 games for Pittsburgh in 2012.

"Glad the business side is out of the way," Sanders tweeted Sunday. "Now it's back to playing football and bringing number 7 back to Pittsburgh."

With his new deal, the Steelers will have to pay Sanders a little more than $1 million above what they had planned to in 2013 bringing them within about $1 million of the salary cap.

If Sanders departed, the Steelers would have been left with four wide receivers on the roster -- Antonio Brown, Jerricho Cotchery, Plaxico Burress and David Gilreath on the roster. Plus, tight end Heath Miller is recovering from a severe knee injury.

Forty years ago, one of the greatest boxing matches in history took place in an unlikely setting: the capital of the Philippines. Muhammad Ali's epic win over great rival Joe Frazier in 1975 became known as the "Thrilla in Manila."